This comment was written in response to Education Week's article on the return of Balanced Literacy to NYC.
"It is
a long story but phonics is not the end all of reading. Matter of fact
it is what holds many kids back. Our language is not phonetic so the
strong emphasis on phonics creates poor spellers and poor readers. It is
an assumption some have made that fluency and good decoding when
reading out loud is a skill needed for comprehension. For some students
that is true but for the majority comprehension comes more from context
and visual strategies. The majority of our students today are visual
thinkers and the auditory.. and oral approaches like reading out loud do
not help them. Phonics can be taught more successfully when children
have a fully developed language system. More like age 8.. We have a
deficit based system.. if someone is stronger visually and decoding is
hard for them then we must focus on the weakness.. instead of
instructing from the strength.
As for the common core.. standards aren't bad.. and common standards aren't bad. What is bad is the lack of understanding what is developmentally appropriate. I cannot believe what is expected of kinders.. who should be learning through lots of play and exploration. Not lots of sitting at a table with pencil and paper."
Here is a teacher who, in a rational world, would be fired post-haste. She knows precisely nothing about the English language.
English IS a phonetic language! Why? Take a close look at the symbols you are currently reading. What do they represent? Words? No. Phrases? No. Syllables? No. The symbols, also known as letters, represent the sounds of the English language. This is the definition of phonetic. In fact, English has 74 sounds, all of which are represented by the letters of the alphabet, either individually or in combination. Knowing these 74 sounds will allow you to read and spell 98% of the 1,000,000+ words of the English language. Just how does this "[create] poor spellers and poor readers?"
While English is phonetic, it is not an easy language to learn. The reason for this is tied up in the history of the language and the tiny island from which it comes. England has been invaded many times in the last 3,000 years. And each invader had brought their own language and, in order to establish dominance, tried to eradicate the native tongue. A lot of these invader languages, especially back in the early days, were not written down and/or predated the Latin alphabet. So when it came time to write down these words, scribes had to force-fit foreign sounds into the Latin alphabet. Or, if the invaders were literate, the scribes wanted to keep their masters' spellings and language. Every invasion and foreign language adoption adds another layer of complexity for us modern speakers. The history of English is an ungainly, but fascinating, mess.
I have more to say about this inane comment, but have run out of writing time. I will continue next week with her putting the cart before the horse.
As for the common core.. standards aren't bad.. and common standards aren't bad. What is bad is the lack of understanding what is developmentally appropriate. I cannot believe what is expected of kinders.. who should be learning through lots of play and exploration. Not lots of sitting at a table with pencil and paper."
Here is a teacher who, in a rational world, would be fired post-haste. She knows precisely nothing about the English language.
English IS a phonetic language! Why? Take a close look at the symbols you are currently reading. What do they represent? Words? No. Phrases? No. Syllables? No. The symbols, also known as letters, represent the sounds of the English language. This is the definition of phonetic. In fact, English has 74 sounds, all of which are represented by the letters of the alphabet, either individually or in combination. Knowing these 74 sounds will allow you to read and spell 98% of the 1,000,000+ words of the English language. Just how does this "[create] poor spellers and poor readers?"
While English is phonetic, it is not an easy language to learn. The reason for this is tied up in the history of the language and the tiny island from which it comes. England has been invaded many times in the last 3,000 years. And each invader had brought their own language and, in order to establish dominance, tried to eradicate the native tongue. A lot of these invader languages, especially back in the early days, were not written down and/or predated the Latin alphabet. So when it came time to write down these words, scribes had to force-fit foreign sounds into the Latin alphabet. Or, if the invaders were literate, the scribes wanted to keep their masters' spellings and language. Every invasion and foreign language adoption adds another layer of complexity for us modern speakers. The history of English is an ungainly, but fascinating, mess.
I have more to say about this inane comment, but have run out of writing time. I will continue next week with her putting the cart before the horse.
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